The Complete Red Bird Recordings

The Dixie Cups | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 13, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00006EXGP
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,862 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as the title says..., January 10, 2003

By 

Zub "Zubenelgenubi" (Forks Twp., PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Complete Red Bird Recordings (Audio CD)

The unique sound of this mid-60s girl group has been collected in fine fashion on a Collectables release from a few years earlier. Here, Varese Vintage takes it one step further to completion by adding two tracks that did not appear on the Collectables piece, the domestically previously unreleased "Wrong Direction" and the single version of "Gee The Moon Is Shining Bright".

"Chapel of Love", a tune written by Phil Spector along with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich that was recorded by Spector's groups with his trademark wall of sound approach, was reworked into the simplified, sweetened, yet elegant tune that went on to become the Red Bird label's first hit and catapulted the Dixie Cups into the pop music limelight. Though not charting as high, the Barry and Greenwich-penned "People Say" was their superbly crafted follow-up. Subsequent singles, also written by Barry and Greenwich, did not exhibit the same hook for the buying public and made less impact on the pop charts until the quirky "Iko Iko", an almost accidental recording, became their final top-100 appearance just touching the bottom of the top-20. Their final Red Bird single, "Gee The Moon Is Shining Bright" was given a more Spectorian arrangement for its single release but failed to make the top 100. Its stereo version included here is more in the vein of the "sound" of the Dixie Cups and in this reviewer's opinion is the superior arrangement and may have had better charting success than the single version actually released.

This collection presents the Dixie Cups' recordings in superb sound with most tracks (1-7,9,10,12,17) in brilliant stereo and is accompanied by an eight-page liner notes booklet detailing the group's history. While this piece may be only marginally superior to the Collectables CD, it does represent the definitive collection of this quintessential 60s girl group's music.

For the casual listener who does not own the Collectables CD, this would be the one Dixie Cups CD to buy, bar none, while the completist collector would be well served to buy this CD even if already in possession of the Collectables disc.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One-of-a-kind girl-group recordings, October 11, 2002

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Complete Red Bird Recordings (Audio CD)

The Dixie Cups, despite their fairly standard 3-girl line-up, hold a number of distinctions in the girl-group era. Their Southern, New Orleans, origin gave their musical style a jazzy edge (magnified by the horn charts often included in their backing arrangements) not heard in the New York bred groups. Further, their timing gave them access to the songs of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich precisely at the time they'd broken free of Phil Spector's production (though they continued to write with him) to work for Leiber & Stoller's Red Bird Records. The confluence of talent created some of the most unique sides in girl-group history.

Leading off this package is the group's debut, Red Bird's debut, and the first #1 hit for both, "Chapel of Love." Having penned this song with Spector, Barry & Greenwich were eager to give it another try. Unissued takes by The Ronettes and Darlene Love had found the song unsuccessfully matched up to Spector's Wall of Sound. Red Bird peeled away the layered backing to focus on the innocent harmonies of the Dixie Cups. Though probably lost on AM listeners of the era, this was a beautifully produced stereo recording that reveals terrific subtleties on CD.

The group's New Orleans roots show up with a vengeance on "All Grown Up." Previously waxed by The Crystals, The Dixie Cups version has a rhythm and piano line reminiscent of Fats Domino, and a horn chart that has the Crescent City written all over it. Similarly, "Iko Iko," with its rhythm-and-bass backing is perhaps one of the era's most unusual top-20 singles. An alternate "a capella" version of "Iko Iko" closes the disc, featuring only the Dixie Cups and the rhythm track. What's really surprising is how little this latter version misses the bass accompaniment of the hit single.

Other treats on this collection include "Gee the Moon is Shining Bright" with its soulful horns and touches of celeste, "Another Boy Like Mine," originally recorded by Barry & Greenwich as The Raindrops, and two versions of the summertime romance, "People Say." The innocence of the latter -- both song and singers -- is incredible.

Varese's collection gathers all of the group's official sides for Red Bird, adding a pair of alternate versions, a mono single mix of "Gee the Moon is Shining Bright," and the rare, "Wrong Direction," previously available only on an import collection. The latter two tracks, plus newly penned liner notes, make this the best Dixie Cups compilation available, besting Collectables' 1999 issue. The remastered sound is tremendous, with surprisingly rich true stereo on most tracks.

After recording these sides, the Dixie Cups' manager abruptly moved them to ABC, where their New Orleans edge was quickly dropped in favor of straight-ahead pop. Their collaboration with Barry & Greenwich ended at the same time, and their recording career folded shortly thereafter. Luckily these superb sides were captured at the group's prime.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for Girl Group collectors!, April 18, 2010

By 

William G. Ratcliffe "wearevinyl" (Lawrenceville, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Red Bird Recordings (Audio CD)

Ever since i was a child I have always had a fascination with the Red Bird label. That yellow label with the Red Bird on top center. As of this writing, I have been lucky enough to own approx. 80% of all of the 45's output. Seems there is such a high demand for the original 45's, that is hard to get a 'mint' copy of the most difficult releases. Here, on cd is all of the Dixie Cup's output for the label. Excellent sound quality, and like always, superb material. I've always enjoyed the girls' vocals with the sparse arrangements and instrumentation, unlike Spector's dense versions of say "Chapel Of Love". The Ronettes version seems so dated as compared to the girl's version here, the version that went all the way to #1.
'Iko Iko', the group's last Red Bird hit is probably considered their best. As imprompt as the session was for the track, it was filled with honest and spontaneous vocals, it is hard to not like it.
Is difficult to add more comments that hasn't already been made, but if one even has a passing interest in this group, this cd is worth the price!